Five grand marshals to lead Long Beach Pride Parade

An estimated 30,000 to 35,000 people are expected to line Ocean Boulevard on Sunday and cheer the hundreds of participants who are marching under the boulevard's rainbow flags in the annual Long Beach Pride Parade.

Among the rainbow-colored floats and numerous marching groups, representing a spectrum of religious, governmental and social service organizations, are five grand marshals. They include a TV personality, a regional mayor, local civic advocates and a deputy police chief.

Here's a look at who they are:

Josh Flagg, Colton Thorn

Josh Flagg, 26, and his boyfriend, Colton Thorn will be the parade's grand marshals. They appear on the Bravo show "Million Dollar Listing," which follows three young real estate agents as they try to sell expensive homes in Hollywood and Malibu.

Though Flagg and Thorn have been a couple since 2007, Flagg publicly came out in March 2011.

In an interview last year, Flagg said he never publicly came out before because he didn't want to be known as "the gay real estate agent."

After high school graduation in 2004, Flagg started working as a real estate agent in Beverly Hills.

Laura Farinella

In September, the Long Beach Police Department reached a milestone in its 103-year history. It promoted its first female and gay or lesbian officer to the rank of deputy chief of police. That officer was Laura Farinella, who will be the parade's female community grand marshal.

Farinella, 48, was chief of staff to Police Chief Jim McDonell.

Farinella's wife of more than two decades, Long Beach Police Child Abuse Detective Dawn Collinske, and their two children, Emily, 13, and Charlie, 7, attended the swearing-in ceremony.

During her tenure with the Police Department, Farinella has worked in various capacities in patrol, including the East and North divisions. As a commander, she oversaw the gangs and violent crime division, which includes homicide.

Ron Sylvester

Ron Sylvester, 48, president and chairman of The Long Beach Gay and Lesbian Center, will be the male community grand marshal.

He has served on The Center's board of directors since 2009 and was elected president and chairman in 2010. He is serving his third consecutive term leading the organization.

During this time, The Center was impacted by the bad economy, including a decrease or elimination in corporate sponsorship dollars, government grant money and personal giving. But the organization is weathering the storm with strict fiscal controls.

In addition to his work at The Center, Sylvester is a past board member of The Entertainment AIDS Alliance in Los Angeles. EAA raises funds within the entertainment community to support HIV and AIDS charities all over the country.

Sylvester owns RS/tv Inc., a broadcast publicity and video production company specializing in entertainment and consumer product publicity.

Michael A. Gin

Michael Gin, 49, an openly gay Republican serving his second term as the 28th mayor of Redondo Beach, is the parade's Morris Kight political grand marshal.

In 2009, Gin was elected to the advisory board of the United States Conference of Mayors. He also serves on the conference's energy committee..

Gin works as a senior staff analyst for the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services. He's responsible for project management and acquisition of an electronic health records system for all Los Angeles County medical facilities.

In the summer of 2007, Gin was named as a David Bohnett Fellow of the Gay and Lesbian Leadership Institute and attended and completed the Senior Executives in State and Local Government Executive Education Program at the Kennedy School at Harvard University. He has also worked as a field deputy to county Supervisor Don Knabe.

Gin and his husband, Christopher Kreidel, have been together 16 years and were married in 2008.

Rene Castro

Being honored as the Whitey Littlefield Community Bridge Builder parade marshal is Rene Castro, 48, vice president of programs at the California Conference for Equality and Justice.

The Long Beach-based human relations group works to eliminate bias, bigotry and racism among all races, religions, cultures and sexual orientations.

CCEJ works toward this goal through a variety of advocacy, conflict resolution and education, including diversity training in the community and workplace.